wizard15
In the Brooder
Hello everyone!
I am hoping for some help/guidance with a hen acting sad after a weasel attack. This past Wednesday I went out to let my girls out and found all but 1 of my girls dead. The stupid weasel was still in the hen house, so I think I disrupted him from taking out my last hen. She was pretty beaten up. Swollen waddler on the one side and her face looked puffed on that side too. We cleaned her up the best we could without causing her too much distress and put her inside quarantine. She escaped the attack with some heavy bruising and soreness. The first 48 hours were scary for us since we had never dealt with this kind of injury. She wouldn't eat or drink and looked very depressed. She seems to be tilting her neck to the left. Her crop feels squishy and abdomen feels normal.
At day 2 of her not eating or drinking, we syringe watered her with water that had Flock Fixer mixed in. She took it ok since she was still pretty weak. Her comb was still dark pink sometimes going to bright red, giving us hope she was going to pull through.
On day 3, she is still looking pretty sad in her quarantine hole, she sits with her chest puffed up, tale down and eyes closed. We took her out of quarantine and offered her soft food and water. She finally dipped her beak in the water and tried to drink, a huge sigh of relief came over us. For the next minute, she drank as much water as she could handle. She wasn't very efficient at drinking since she would dip her beak and wasn't tipping her head up like normal, I think because it hurt too much. After drinking, she kept adjusting her crop. She looked like she was having some adjustment issues, I'm assuming from her neck being sore and swollen it felt weird. We tried offering soft food but it seems she was struggling to bite down or tip her head up so she didn't get any food. She looked at food interested but would shy away.
Day 4 was the most progressive day but we are still cautious. We woke her up and got her up out of quarantine. She was still standing in her quarantine place with chest puffed up like a statue looking very sad. The sun was out and we took her to her favorite sunning spot and offered her soft food and water again. She drank a ton of water, which she seemed to be getting slightly better at doing, and tried to nibble some sweet potato. She seemed to be getting a little better at trying to bite down but was still not getting alot of food in her mouth. She actually layed in sun "recharging" as we call it and tried to dust bathe. She acted a little like normal but just wasn't eating too much.
Day 5, this morning I turned on her light and gave her some more soft treats and water. She was still on the roost in quarantine when I left for work. She hasn't moved all day (I only know this because I have a camera on her). Still roosted and seems very sad. I tried talking to her through the camera and she moves her head a little then goes back to statue mode and sleeps.
After that long winded explanation, is it normal for a hen to be very depressed after such a traumatic event? She lost all her flock mates and it was in her safe place over the past 2 years. Should I be really worried she is struggling eating or should that be expected after such an injury?
I really want her to feel safe and not be stressed out while in quarantine. I feel so bad for her
I am hoping for some help/guidance with a hen acting sad after a weasel attack. This past Wednesday I went out to let my girls out and found all but 1 of my girls dead. The stupid weasel was still in the hen house, so I think I disrupted him from taking out my last hen. She was pretty beaten up. Swollen waddler on the one side and her face looked puffed on that side too. We cleaned her up the best we could without causing her too much distress and put her inside quarantine. She escaped the attack with some heavy bruising and soreness. The first 48 hours were scary for us since we had never dealt with this kind of injury. She wouldn't eat or drink and looked very depressed. She seems to be tilting her neck to the left. Her crop feels squishy and abdomen feels normal.
At day 2 of her not eating or drinking, we syringe watered her with water that had Flock Fixer mixed in. She took it ok since she was still pretty weak. Her comb was still dark pink sometimes going to bright red, giving us hope she was going to pull through.
On day 3, she is still looking pretty sad in her quarantine hole, she sits with her chest puffed up, tale down and eyes closed. We took her out of quarantine and offered her soft food and water. She finally dipped her beak in the water and tried to drink, a huge sigh of relief came over us. For the next minute, she drank as much water as she could handle. She wasn't very efficient at drinking since she would dip her beak and wasn't tipping her head up like normal, I think because it hurt too much. After drinking, she kept adjusting her crop. She looked like she was having some adjustment issues, I'm assuming from her neck being sore and swollen it felt weird. We tried offering soft food but it seems she was struggling to bite down or tip her head up so she didn't get any food. She looked at food interested but would shy away.
Day 4 was the most progressive day but we are still cautious. We woke her up and got her up out of quarantine. She was still standing in her quarantine place with chest puffed up like a statue looking very sad. The sun was out and we took her to her favorite sunning spot and offered her soft food and water again. She drank a ton of water, which she seemed to be getting slightly better at doing, and tried to nibble some sweet potato. She seemed to be getting a little better at trying to bite down but was still not getting alot of food in her mouth. She actually layed in sun "recharging" as we call it and tried to dust bathe. She acted a little like normal but just wasn't eating too much.
Day 5, this morning I turned on her light and gave her some more soft treats and water. She was still on the roost in quarantine when I left for work. She hasn't moved all day (I only know this because I have a camera on her). Still roosted and seems very sad. I tried talking to her through the camera and she moves her head a little then goes back to statue mode and sleeps.
After that long winded explanation, is it normal for a hen to be very depressed after such a traumatic event? She lost all her flock mates and it was in her safe place over the past 2 years. Should I be really worried she is struggling eating or should that be expected after such an injury?
I really want her to feel safe and not be stressed out while in quarantine. I feel so bad for her
